Detroit Pistons might shut down G Reggie Jackson

Detroit Pistons guard Reggie Jackson could be shut down for the season due to his left knee injury, coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters.

Jackson isn't expected to play in Tuesday's pivotal game against the Miami Heat at a time when Detroit trails eighth-place Miami by 1 1/2 games for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. He also sat out Monday's 109-95 loss to the New York Knicks.

"We've been thinking about this, actually for a long time," Van Gundy said about shutting down Jackson. "He's probably been playing at 80 percent. When you get into this stretch of games in March, where we're playing at, the fatigue is just making it worse."

Jackson has played in just 52 games this season while averaging 14.5 points and 5.2 assists.

He missed the beginning of the season after undergoing a platelet-rich plasma injection during training game. His play has never reached the level of last season when he averaged a career-high 18.8 points per game.

Van Gundy attributes the drop-off to the knee issue.

"It wasn't really fair to him -- we were running him out there, putting pressure on him and he's seeing things he should be able to do and he just can't do them," Van Gundy said. "He's not feeling pain, but he just can't make the plays he wants to make. And we're trying to put him out there."

The Pistons have dropped seven of their last eight games.